Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein told a Jerusalem court on Wednesday
that there is no reason to prevent the deportation of South Sudanese
citizens to their country of origin, as South Sudan is safe enough
for them to return home.

Weinstein based the remarks on a foreign ministry report on the
economic and security conditions in South Sudan, and on the
possibility of deporting migrants to the country.

According to Weinstein´s remarks, the situation in South Sudan does
not provide grounds to fear for the lives and physical safety of
migrants who are returned to the country.

The attorney general also said that asylum applications of South
Sudanese citizens will be examined individually, based on the Refugee
Convention.

Some 1,000 South Sudanese are believed to be in Israel, part of a
larger influx of African migrants who have poured into the country in
recent years. Some are refugees, while others are seeking employment.
Major violence between Sudan and South Sudan has flared recently,
pushing the region to the edge of all-out war, according to news
reports.

Weinstein made the remarks to the Jerusalem District Court after a
petition was filed by five organizations seeking to prevent the
deportation of Sudanese migrants.

Weinstein´s announcements came amid mounting tensions over the issue
of African migrants in Israel.

A further anti-migrant rally is planned in south Tel Aviv on
Wednesday.

At last weeks demonstration, the crowd cried "The people want the
Sudanese deported" and "Infiltrators get out of our home," and a
number of MKs addressed the crowd. Likud MK Miri Regev told
protesters that "the Sudanese are a cancer in our body." Regev
apologized over the remarks on Sunday.